After a year in hotel detention, 60 medevac refugees are being allowed into the community
60 refugees brought to Australia over a year ago for urgent medical treatment, and kept in hotel rooms since then, will this week be freed into the community. According to refugee advocates, 26 detainees were released yesterday, and 34 will be released today. The Department of Home Affairs said they will be allowed to reside in Australia until their medical treatment is complete.
HOW WE GOT HERE
In early 2019, Parliament passed medevac, a law allowing sick refugees to come to mainland Australia for medical treatment.
The program was repealed in late 2019, but not before almost 200 refugees were able to use it.
But when the law was repealed, the refugees weren’t sent back offshore. They were kept here, without knowing how long it would be for, mostly in hotels and motels.
WHY DID THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RELEASE THEM NOW?
The Federal Government has always said it believed medevac to be a backdoor route for refugees hoping to settle in Australia. While holding refugees in hotels and motels following the medevac repeal, it urged them to either resettle in another country or return to offshore detention. On Wednesday, the Federal Government said those most recently released were being given visas that allowed residence in Australia “while they finalise their arrangements to leave”.
HOW MANY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO LEAVE HOTEL DETENTION?
In early December, five detainees who were the subjects of federal court cases yet to be completed were freed. On Wednesday, 26 more detainees were released. On Thursday, a further 34 were set to be released.
HOW MANY REMAIN?
192 medevac refugees were evacuated to Australia for medical treatment. Activists say the vast majority of these were placed in hotel detention. It’s not known exactly how many remain in hotel detention.
“Doctors, lawyers, service providers and the wider community have long called for the release of medevac refugees from harmful conditions in indefinite detention and today the federal government is finally listening to reason… We call on the government to immediately release all 200 people so that they can recover their health safely in the community, where they are supported and welcomed.”
Jana Favero, director of advocacy and campaigns at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
“The individuals residing in the alternative places of detention were brought to Australia temporarily for medical treatment. They are encouraged to finalise their medical treatment so they can continue on their resettlement pathway to the United States, return to Nauru or PNG or return to their home country.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs